Hero Factory 2013

[VBBN]

Really? That's a real surprise to me. Most instances of two different colors appearing as variants within a single set involve a color being discontinued in between production runs of a set, such as how various 2010 sets including Dunkan Bulk and Mark Surge could have their silver elements either in the classic BIONICLE silver (131 Silver) or the new silver that became standard in 2011 (315 Silver Metallic).

Factory molding process can sometimes put parts of the wrong sort in other sets, in this case furno's trans neon green core was likely mistaken in place when packaging. For instance, my breez 4.0 that I recieved has an extra 4-length armor shell, in place of the wider shell that goes on her lower leg.(Just swapped it for my breez 2.0's extra one, but still)

[Lyichir]

Factory molding process can sometimes put parts of the wrong sort in other sets, in this case furno's trans neon green core was likely mistaken in place when packaging. For instance, my breez 4.0 that I recieved has an extra 4-length armor shell, in place of the wider shell that goes on her lower leg.(Just swapped it for my breez 2.0's extra one, but still)

Good point. That's especially likely to occur with two parts of approximately the same weight (like the Hero Cores would be). This fools the weight check that is supposed to ensure that there are no missing parts. My personal anecdote involves the Bionicle set Umbra. When my little brother built him, he found that one of the silver Toa Inika shoulder armor pieces had been replaced by a 1x4 red brick!

[Cirkit]

Or Breeze for that matter.

Yeah, I agree-, that would be pretty cool.

Surge has assisted in taking down the 'leader bad guy' before, why not have Breez assist this time instead of just fighting Orgum?

I keep thinking about how Surge and Stringer are going to look. As I've said before, I really want some trans-yellow in there with the blue on Surge. I think the designers could get away with mixing Surge's old yellow with his newer lime parts if they did it right.. My thought would be trans lime tubes/head, and all other trans parts would be yellow.

If Stringer stays with his new black and blue scheme, that'll be great. Maybe he'll get the first black torso cladding this wave, instead of it being blue like last time..

I haven't given much thought to Stormer and Nex. I imagine Nex will retain his Upgrade/Breakout color scheme, and Stormer will keep with his white, blue, and silver scheme. Blue visor, white cladding, maybe a sword again.. who knows.

I wonder if they'll bring back blasters next wave. Or introduce a new kind of blaster system? That would be cool.

[DraikNova]

Well, Surge might have a trans-yellow visor. Although I really would like a trans-neon green one.

[Shakar]

I'm pretty sure Rocka is getting a tr neon green visor. His tr. green is the same as on Ogrum and Scarox (his fangs), which seems a lot lighter than Breez's.

Unless Breez is using regular tr. green- but her green looks too vibrant to me, so much I immediately mentally screamed "tr. bright green!!!11" when I saw her for the first time.

Which is too bad, since I was eager to try Brain Attack (shall we use BA?) Rocka's equipment on Breakout Rocka. I do hope I'm wrong, but I can't ignore the difference between Rocka/Ogrum/Scarox and Breez.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Shakar

[Aanchir]

I'm pretty sure Rocka is getting a tr neon green visor. His tr. green is the same as on Ogrum and Scarox (his fangs), which seems a lot lighter than Breez's.

Unless Breez is using regular tr. green- but her green looks too vibrant to me, so much I immediately mentally screamed "tr. bright green!!!11" when I saw her for the first time.

Which is too bad, since I was eager to try Brain Attack (shall we use BA?) Rocka's equipment on Breakout Rocka. I do hope I'm wrong, but I can't ignore the difference between Rocka/Ogrum/Scarox and Breez.

I had thought Rocka's visor is Transparent Bright Green, actually. It seems improbable that 4M shells would be debuting in both colors in the very same wave. But you're right that it looks way more yellowish than Transparent Bright Green normally should, and it seems weird that those would be the only two Heroes to share a visor color. I guess we won't know the actual colors for sure until we see the sets IRL since it's difficult to judge the color of transparent parts from pictures like this. Different shades can be genuinely different or just a result of different lighting.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Aanchir

[DraikNova]

To me it just looks like Rocka and Breeze's green is just that apple-ish trans that Rocka used last year.

[Shakar]

That "apple-ish trans that Rocka used last year" IS tr. bright green.

I guess you're right Aanchir, hopefully we won't have to wait much for better pics- we just skipped the "preliminary catalogue scans" part, but everything else is going on as every other Lego year (set lists, new themes teasers, online shop pics, Ebay auctions..). Hey, maybe we'll see some in hand pics from Ebay, like Reapa and Jawblade last year.

[Cirkit]

TR Apple green= TR bright green. Gotcha.

I hope we see some of those pics from Ebay. I really like seeing those. I wonder how the brains will attach?

[Shakar]

My guess is that the head connects like a regular helmet, but has an elongated and hollow section in the back in order for the slugs to slide in and attach. But Front is likely going to destroy my theory, leaving me shocked and puzzled.

I just recently noticed that Breez's helmet has a mouth like Bulk's..huh, kinda cool. I wonder if they'll keep unique mouth guards for at least some of the Summer Heroes- Stringer's big, triangular, Death Vader-esque mouth guard pratically defines his helmet, and it'd be a shame to see it disappear.

[Aanchir]

My guess is that the head connects like a regular helmet, but has an elongated and hollow section in the back in order for the slugs to slide in and attach. But Front is likely going to destroy my theory, leaving me shocked and puzzled.

I don't think that's the case, and my reason is that I think the eyes for the slugs are also the eyes for the characters' faces. But I could be totally off-base with that assumption. It just seems awfully convenient that the slugs' eyes are always the same color as the characters' eyes.

Edited November 5, 2012 by Aanchir

[Shakar]

I forgot about that, but it could still work-

Scratch that. I just took a look at Ogrum and the others, no way the "faces" attach like a Glatorian helmet: the whole top sections are missing, leaving no room for a built in axle rod. The Villain helmets are more like very bulky masks.

I'm still wondering about Pyrox, but I guess his Ben 10 horns either attach to side holes on the helmet..or to the sides of a completely new head piece shared by all 4 Villains.

A front attachment, much like (2003 onwards) Bionicle masks, seems more likely at this point, at least to me.

Edited November 5, 2012 by Shakar

[DraikNova]

It would be pretty weird to have a squirmy, rubbery axle sticking up from the top, or to have an indent on the top, so I agree with you Shakar.

[Dorek]

Could be like the Mahri masks/visors, with the Glatorian head inverted.

[Cirkit]

I'm still wondering about Pyrox, but I guess his Ben 10 horns either attach to side holes on the helmet..or to the sides of a completely new head piece shared by all 4 Villains.

A front attachment, much like (2003 onwards) Bionicle masks, seems more likely at this point, at least to me.

To the first, I could see that happening easily. Perhaps the horns are attached directly to a Glatorian head?

The attachment idea seems likely.. I'm having trouble imagining the slugs connecting another way, but this idea works as well I think:

Could be like the Mahri masks/visors, with the Glatorian head inverted.

Indeed. I look forward to seeing what the designers have done with these heads..

[DraikNova]

It's annoying that the only things we have to discuss at the moment are the connection methods of the visors and slugs to the rest of the head.

[Shakar]

I know, right? This wave has lots of nifty recolours, but offers little in terms of building innovation.. Aside from Furno and Scarox The Technic Mess, the others follow the usual humanoid build. And having only 8 sets, while not devastating, doesn't help things.

I read again some of the 2012 topic to check when the Ebay auctions popped up. There

was more hype for the 2012 winter sets, I remember all the excitement back then- so many new stuff to talk about, so many new concepts..

EDIT: Purpl'd.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Shakar

[Zip]

There was more hype for the 2012 winter sets, I remember all the excitement back then- so many new stuff to talk about, so many new concepts..

I feel the same way, though it was towards the 2011 winter sets, when the 2.0 system was introduced. Back then, I was more hyped for the new sets than any of the ones we'd gotten since 2007. But now, after 2 years of rehashes, I'm bored again. I feel like the designers have exploited the building system to its utmost, and we can only go downhill from here. I was hoping that they would keep to the general trend of the late 2011 and early 2012 sets, which focused on bizarre, non-humanoid villains. But with the last two waves, it doesn't look like we'll be getting that again anytime soon.

[Shakar]

OOOH I think I got it (I'm talking about the villains).

They use Glatorian heads, but they're flipped, so the helmets/faces can attach like masks. Like on Von Nebula.

I feel the same way, though it was towards the 2011 winter sets, when the 2.0 system was introduced. Back then, I was more hyped for the new sets than any of the ones we'd gotten since 2007. But now, after 2 years of rehashes, I'm bored again. I feel like the designers have exploited the building system to its utmost, and we can only go downhill from here. I was hoping that they would keep to the general trend of the late 2011 and early 2012 sets, which focused on bizarre, non-humanoid villains. But with the last two waves, it doesn't look like we'll be getting that again anytime soon.

To be fair, I wasn't hyped for the 2.0 sets at first, because they looked so different. I wasn't sure of what to think. When reviews came out, I realized how brilliant the sets and the new building system were.

I wasn't a huge fan of Savage Planet, but I can't deny that Rawjaw, Fangz and Scorpio (I never saw the appeal of Waspix, sorry) had some pretty clever designs and techniques.

But Breakout Winter really took the best of 2.0 (colour schemes, futuristic feel, sci-fi weapons) and 3.0 (non-humanoid designs, transparent shells) and mixed them in a truly spectacular wave. There was a great mix of cheap and bigger sets, and of humanoids and non humanoids. I remember we had lots of things to debate: how the heck are Thornraxx, Jawblade and Toxic Reapa built? How does Splitface's helmet work? Do Heroes really use Glatorian heads? Are they using a new torso piece? What is the fourth head colour Front spoke of?

Breakout Summer had more ordinary humanoids (XT4 was innovative in style, but his novelty element mainly relied on the new torso piece), but it more than made up for it thanks to the first vehicle set in a while, Stormer XL, the recolours (the MTIS in particular IMO), the new pieces and to the general "looks cool!" factor.

I'm not ready to call the new building system fully exploited yet- I feel there are many techniques and pieces that haven't been taken advantage of to the fullest: the double C on Stormer XL, the hole-ball-hole liftarm, XT4's torso...

I'm not excepting them to do something utterly groundbreaking, but I can see them pulling off something akin to Thornraxx or Jawblade again- I know the designers are fully capable of that. Scarox, at the same price point, pales compared to those two (building wise at least- I can't deny his head looks really cool), but I still feel it's too early to declare the death of the 2.0 building system.

Edited November 6, 2012 by Shakar

[DraikNova]

I've been wanting a titan-sized (40 euros or more) set with the 2.0 building style since I first saw the pictures of Witch Doctor. The last true titan we had was the exclusive Toa Mata Nui set from BIONICLE.

[Aanchir]

I've been wanting a titan-sized (40 euros or more) set with the 2.0 building style since I first saw the pictures of Witch Doctor. The last true titan we had was the exclusive Toa Mata Nui set from BIONICLE.

Personally, I see no reason HF needs figures at that scale any time soon. Frankly, Hero Factory's standard figures are still a lot smaller than most Glatorian or even Toa Inika. And I'd honestly prefer if it stayed that way.

What I think HF should work on, rather than just making the sets bigger, is refining the titan builds we already have. Certainly the HF titan sets have shown improvement, but it's been in fits and starts. I'd like to see some titan builds with the same level of sculptural refinement as Roodaka, Brutaka, or the 2008 Takanuva. One that goes the extra mile to fill in the gaps in its build and create an overall solid-looking design, or at least as solid-looking as any of the smaller sets. And yes, that may require raising the price point a bit, but more importantly it will require new and innovative ways of utilizing the building system.

[Cirkit]

OOOH I think I got it (I'm talking about the villains).

They use Glatorian heads, but they're flipped, so the helmets/faces can attach like masks. Like on Von Nebula.

So all the heads will be like VN's? Sweet!

I just hope the faces cover the whole head instead of just being 'masks'. VN's mask looked more like a helmet than anything, and that made it work.

I'm not ready to call the new building system fully exploited yet- I feel there are many techniques and pieces that haven't been taken advantage of to the fullest: the double C on Stormer XL, the hole-ball-hole liftarm, XT4's torso...

I've found the double C parts to be quite handy in a pinch, shame I don't have more of them.

Same with the hole-ball-hole.

XT4's torso would be brilliant for many of my builds, but I really want to use it for a titan or vehicle set. Imagine the possibilities..

[Aethersprite]

I know, right? This wave has lots of nifty recolours, but offers little in terms of building innovation.. Aside from Furno and Scarox The Technic Mess, the others follow the usual humanoid build. And having only 8 sets, while not devastating, doesn't help things.

EDIT: Purpl'd.

Speaking of Furno - any idea how is torso is assembled? Aside from the uncovered crotch, he looks like he has bone pieces hanging down his sides where the size 3 trans orange shells attach to. Yikes. If not for the cape it looks like it's going to be incredibly gappy.

As for the 2.0 system - there's much more to be explored! It reminds me a lot of the Master Grade line in Gundams, where the models have an inner frame, and armour pieces slapped on to complete the look. What I'd like to see - once the 2.0 system have gone "stale" - is a total revamp of the armour shells. Make them more streamlined and a better fit for the bone pieces. They could also be more stylised so we don't see the same shells being repeated every wave, and blend in better with add-ons like the bubble shoulder armour and the shin/knee guards.

[Aanchir]

Speaking of Furno - any idea how is torso is assembled? Aside from the uncovered crotch, he looks like he has bone pieces hanging down his sides where the size 3 trans orange shells attach to. Yikes. If not for the cape it looks like it's going to be incredibly gappy.

As for the 2.0 system - there's much more to be explored! It reminds me a lot of the Master Grade line in Gundams, where the models have an inner frame, and armour pieces slapped on to complete the look. What I'd like to see - once the 2.0 system have gone "stale" - is a total revamp of the armour shells. Make them more streamlined and a better fit for the bone pieces. They could also be more stylised so we don't see the same shells being repeated every wave, and blend in better with add-ons like the bubble shoulder armour and the shin/knee guards.

Personally, I think that kind of change would be somewhat superfluous. Certainly there's room for some changes in aesthetics, but I myself would like to see fundamental expansions to the building system:

• More sets that use simple yet innovative techniques for attaching back armor.
  
• Perhaps some sets that integrate waist articulation.
  
• Separate shell pieces for the upper and lower body (which, in addition to allowing for waist articulation to be incorporated more easily, would make it easier for sets to vary in size without ending up with an bare-crotch look like Furno XL has).
  
• More animal-like builds, such as a dog-like companion for the heroes or a parrot for a pirate-themed villain.
  
• More variety in vehicles... still waiting for a car or hovercar with a body formed by the new building system, like this MOC from the LEGO Ideas Book but with HF beams instead of click-hinges.
  
• Perhaps a four-legged villain, with a spider-like look along the lines of Nidhiki?

And there are probably dozens of other ideas that haven't been explored in the new building system but which involve actual structural innovations rather than just new pieces to give the sets a different look.

[Front]

Gone is the glatorian head. For good.

And good that is, the last bionicle ball cup is history.

Enjoy.